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against the sharp cold; some drink of the fruit of the vine; some the pleasant milk of the cocoa-nut; and others quench their thirst with the running stream.

2. All are God's family; he knows every one of them, as a shepherd knows his flock. They pray to him in different languages, but he understands them all; he hears them all; he takes care of all: none are so great that he cannot punish them; none are so mean, that he will not protect them.

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3. Negro woman, who sittest pining in captivity, and weepest over thy sick child; though no one sees thee, God sees thee; though no one pities thee, God pities thee. Raise thy voice, forlorn and abandoned one; call upon him from amidst thy bonds; for assuredly he will hear thee.Monarch, that rulest over a hundred states; whose frown is terrible as death, and whose armies cover the land, boast not thyself as though there were none above thee. God is above thee; his powerful arm is always over thee; and if thou doest ill, assuredly he will punish thee.

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4. Nations of the earth, fear the Lord; families of men, call upon the name of your God. Is there any one whom God hath not made? let him not worship him. there any one whom he hath not blessed? let him not praise him.

SECTION IV.

BARBAULD.

Abraham and Lot: a fine example of wisdom and condescension.

1. DOMESTIC altercations began to perplex families in the very childhood of time; the blood even of a brother was shed, at an early period. But with how much tenderness and good sense does Abraham prevent the disagreement which had nearly arisen, as is but too frequently the case, from the quarrels of servants! He said unto Lot, "I pray thee let there be no strife betwixt me and thee, nor between herdmen and thine." And why? For the tenderest reason that can be: "because we are brethren."

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2. The very image of the patriarch in the attitude of entreaty, the fraternal tear just starting from his eye, is this moment before me: and thus, methinks, I catch instruction from the lip of the venerable man, as he addresses Lot. "Away, my dear brother, away with strife: we were

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born to be the servants of God, and the companions of each other as we sprang from the same parents, so we naturally partake of the same affections. We are brethren, sons of the same father: we are friends; for surely kindredship should be the most exalted friendship. Let us not then disagree, because our herdmen have disagreed; since that were to encourage every idle pique and senseless animosity.

3. "Great, indeed, has been our success since our migration into this fair country: we have much substance, and much cattle. But what! shall brothers quarrel, because it has pleased Heaven to prosper them? This would be ingratitude, impiety! But if, notwithstanding these persuasives, thy spirit is still troubled, let us separate: rather than contend with a brother, I would, hard as it is, even part with him for a time.

4. "Perhaps the occasion of dispute, (which I have already forgotten,) will soon be no more remembered by thee. Is not the whole land before thee? Take then my blessing and my embrace, and separate thyself from me. To thee is submitted the advantage of choice: if thou wilt take the left hand, then, that I may not appear to thwart thee unbrotherly, I will take the right; or, if thou art more inclined to the country which lies upon the right, then will I go to the left. Be it as thou wilt, and whithersoever thou goest, happy mayest thou be!"

5. Lot listened to his brother, and departed. He cast his eyes on the well-watered plains of Jordan. When he separated, it appears to have been with the hope of increas ing his wealth: whilst Abraham, actuated by the kindest motives, often, no doubt, pressed his brother's hand; and often bade him adieu; and even followed him to repeat his farewell wishes, ere he could suffer him to depart.

SECTION V.

A persecuting spirit reproved.

1. ARAM was sitting at the door of his tent, under the shade of his fig-tree, when it came to pass that a man, stricken with years, bearing a staff in his hand, journeyed that way. And it was noon-day. And Aram said unto the stranger; "Pass not by I pray thee, but come in, and wash

thy feet, and tarry here until the evening; for thou art stricken with years, and the heat overcometh thee."

2. And the stranger left his staff at the door, and entered into the tent of Aram. And he rested himself. And Aram set before him bread, and cakes of fine meal, baked upon the hearth. And Aram blessed the bread, calling upon the name of the Lord. But the stranger did eat, and refused to pray unto the Most High; saying, "Thy Lord is not the God of my fathers; why therefore should I present my vows unto him ?”

3. And Aram's wrath was kindled; and he called his servants, and they beat the stranger, and drove him into the wilderness. Now in the evening, Aram lifted up his voice unto the Lord, and prayed unto him. And the Lord. said, "Aram, where is the stranger that sojourned this day with thee?" And Aram answered and said, “Behold, O Lord! he eat of thy bread, and would not offer unto thee his prayers and thanksgivings. Therefore did I chastise him, and drive him from before me into the wilderness."

4. And the Lord said unto Aram; "Who hath made thee a judge between me and him? Have not I borne with thine iniquities, and winked at thy backslidings; and shalt thou be severe with thy brother, to mark his errors, and to punish his perverseness? Arise and follow the stranger; and carry with thee oil and wine, and anoint his bruises, and speak kindly unto him. For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, and judgment belongeth only unto me. Vain is thine oblation of thanksgiving, without a lowly heart.

5. "As a bulrush thou mayest bow down thine head, and lift up thy voice like a trumpet; but thou obeyest not the ordinance of thy God, if thy worship be for strife and debate. Behold the sacrifice that I have chosen: is it not to undo the heavy burdens; to let the oppressed go free; and to break every yoke? to deal thy bread to the hungry; and to bring the poor, that are cast out, to thy house?" And Aram trembled before the presence of God. And he arose, and put on sackcloth and ashes; and went out into the wil derness, to do as the Lord had commanded him.

PERCIVAL

SECTION VI.

The folly of pride.

1. Ir there be any thing which makes human nature appear ridiculous to beings of superior faculties, it must be pride. They know so well the vanity of those imaginary perfections that swell the heart of man, and of those little supernumerary advantages of birth, fortune, or title, which one man enjoys above another, that it must certainly very much astonish, if it does not very much divert them, when they see a mortal puffed up, and valuing himself above his neighbours, on any of these accounts, at the same time that he is liable to all the common calamities of the species.

2. To set this thought in its true light, we shall fancy, if you please, that yonder molehill is inhabited by reasonable creatures; and that every pismire (his shape and way of life only accepted) is endowed with human passions. How should we smile to hear one give an account of the pedigrees, distinctions, and titles, that reign among them!

3. Observe how the whole swarm divide, and make way for the pismire that passes along! You must understand he is an emmet of quality, and has better blood in his veins than any pismire in the molehill. Do not you see how sensible he is of it, how slowly he marches forward, how the whole rabble of ants keep their distance?

4. Here you may observe one placed upon a little eminence, and looking down on a long row of labourers. He is the richest insect on this side the hillock: he has a walk of half a yard in length, and a quarter of an inch in breadth; he keeps a hundred menial servants, and has at least fifteen barley-corns in his granary. He is now chiding and enslaving the emmet that stands before him; one who, for all that we can discover, is as good an emmet as himself.

5. But here comes an insect of rank! Do not you perceive the little white straw that he carries in his mouth? That straw, you must understand, he would not part with for the longest tract about the molehill: you cannot conceive what he has undergone to purchase it! See how the ants of all qualities and conditions swarm about him! Should this straw drop out of his mouth, you would see all this numerous circle of attendants follow the next that took

it up; and leave the discarded insect, or run over his back to come to his successor.

6. If now you have a mind to see the ladies of the molehill, observe first the pismire that listens to the emmet on her left-hand, at the same time that she seems to turn away her head from him. He tells this poor insect that she is a superior being; that her eyes are brighter than the sun; that life and death are at her disposal. She believes him, and gives herself a thousand little airs upon it.

7. Mark the vanity of the pismire on her right-hand. She can scarcely crawl with age; but you must know she values herself upon her birth; and, if you mind, spurns at every one that comes within her reach. The little nimble coquette that is running by the side of her, is a wit. She has broken many a pismire's heart. Do but observe what a drove of admirers are running after her.

8. We shall here finish this imaginary scene. But first of all, to draw the parallel closer, we shall suppose, if you please, that death comes down upon the molehill, in the shape of a cock-sparrow; and picks up, without distinction, the pismire of quality and his flatterers, the pismire of substance and his day-labourers, the white straw officer and his sycophants, with all the ladies of rank, the wits, and the beauties of the molehill.

9. May we not imagine, that beings of superior natures and perfections, regard all the instances of pride and vanity among our own species, in the same kind of view, when they take a survey of those who inhabit this earth; or, (in the language of an ingenious French poet,) of those pismires that people this heap of dirt, which human vanity has divided into climates and regions?

SECTION VII.

The Whistle.

ADDISON.

1. WHEN I was a child about seven years of age, my friends, on a holyday, filled my pocket with halfpence. I went directly towards a shop where toys were sold for children; and being charmed with the sound of a whistle that I met by the way, in the hands of another boy, I vo luntarily offered him all my money for it.

2. I then came home, and went whistling over the

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